NYC to pay $2.5 million to family of Kingston-based National Guardsman killed during traffic stop in Queens

KINGSTON >> New York City will pay $2.5 million to the family of a Kingston-based National Guardsman killed by police during a Queens traffic stop.

Neil Polanco, was shot to death on Oct 4 by Emergency Service Unit Detective Hassan Hamdy through an open passenger window during a traffic stop because, Hamdy said, he believed Polanco was reaching under the seat.

Witnesses in Polanco’s vehicle disputed that claim and no weapon was found in Polanco’s vehicle.

Sanford Rubenstein, the attorney representing Neil Polanco’s family, said in a staetment that agreement was “a fair settlement for damages for the wrongful death of a fine young soldier who should not have died the way he did.”

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Polanco, a Queens resident, was a member of the New York National Guard’s 1156th Engineer Company in Kingston, who was getting ready to go on active duty at the time of his death. He was a vertical engineer specializing in carpentry, masonry and plumbing.

Capt. Daniel Colomb, the 1156th company commander has said that Polanco was the first member of the unit to volunteer to go to Greene County to help (Tropical Storm) Irene victims following the devasating storm.

Weeks before his death, Polanco also had volunteered to go to Mount Beacon to rebuild the fire tower, Colomb had said at the time. “He was a reliable, all-around good guy.”

According to previous reports, Hamby shot Polanco at about 5:15 p.m. during a traffic stop on the Grand Central Parkway.

Authorities at the time said that when an unmarked police van and truck en route to execute a warrant turned police spotted Polanco’s black 2012 Honda driving on the high erratically on Grand Central Parkway officers turned on their lights and sirens and used a loud speaker to order the driver to stop.

When the motorist didn’t respond, one of the police cars cut him off while another closed in from the rear to box him in and force him to the left shoulder of the highway, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said at the time.

Browne had said at the time that two officers from the car in front exited and approached either side of the Honda. The officer on the passenger side reached the car first and fired one round that hit the driver in the stomach -- a sequence Browne said lasted only a few seconds.

Polanco was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead about a half-hour later.

Hamdy’s lawyer has said his client fired after he saw Polanco reaching under his seat with both hands. He also said Polanco didn’t comply with Hamdy’s orders to put his hands up.

According to previous reports, Diane Deferrari, a passenger seated next to Polanco, said there was nothing to provoke police to shoot. She said officers yelled obscenities before pulling over their car and pointed their guns through her open window. She said the bullet that struck Polanco in the abdomen narrowly missed her.

Defarri told investigators that once it was clear police were trying to pull him over, she urged Polanco to slow down and stop, according to reports.

“Why? I’m not doing anything wrong,” Polanco responded, according to the woman.

Once stopped, she said she complied with an order to raise her hands. Polanco kept his hands on the wheel, she said.

Deferrari, a bartender who worked with Polanco, told police they were on their way home from a late shift at a Queens lounge, authorities said at the time. She also said she had served the victim and an off-duty police officer, a friend of hers, who was asleep in the back seat of the vehicle, a round of Hennessy at the end of the night.

A grand jury cleared Hamdy of criminal wrongdoing. The Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office also reviewed the incident and concluded the detective did not intentionally violate the victim’s civil rights.